Will a nationally distributed brewery ever produce the highest rated IPA?

There are more than one way to make an IPA, and they each have their place. This reductive way of approaching things, and focusing on the latest fashion trend is taking away from the fact that freshness is improving every year. Hopefully nothing will change but that.

 

In my opinion, I would guess that a bi-coastal brewer (Stone, SN for instance) or at least a brewer with something of a decent IPA pedigree that has multiple high capacity breweries not necessarily on the coasts (Lagunitas, Oskar Blues) could tool together a highly competitive IPA with exacting recipes, even down to ph matching and distribute it nationally and as close to climate controlled as the distros and store owners would cooperate. Problem isn't with consistency or even nailing that "authentic" recipe. Where the issue lie is where folks review it worse than it's NE contemporaries due to it not being difficult to obtain. If you don't have to suffer for your beer or if it doesn't rate high on exclusivity, than it can't possibly be good.

 

No. Being nationally distributed, unless in small hard to obtain amounts, makes the beer less special to most drinkers on any rating site. It will never rank as highly as it maybe should. Feeling like you scored something special is up there with how the beer tastes for many people on these sites.

Even in someone figured out how to extend shelf life (let's even say guarenteed 100% bottle date fresh for 6 months) people would say it falls off after 3 weeks.

Its really not about this crowd. Its about the people who will buy the same beer in volume on a consistant basis. I know quite a few people like this and to them the highest rated IPA already exists. It's Lagunitas IPA and they buy it by the truck load and they will always do so. Thats all Lagunitas cares about. They move volume consistently. Making an IPA that panders to the ticker beer geek crowd is low on the to do list for most breweries with national plans.

 

Has Stone not done this with their Unfiltereed Enjoy By? And Sam Adams with their Rebel Raw? These beers may not be the "top IPA's" to which you are referring, but they're unfiltered and in the same category regarding freshness and shelf life. So in response to your question about the changing landscape, I think breweries with larger distribution are testing the idea of nationally distributing beers with shorter shelf lives. If there are sales to be made, you can guarantee that breweries will jump on the bandwagon, not move in the opposite directions.

 

It would be very expensive but Tree House could FedEx a keg to LA and have it in a bar the next day.

 

Don't you know about the hidden hype ceiling? If it was cheap, easy to aqcuire, and not headlining it's own BA forum, it will never get as high a score as something that everyone has to drive to some random state and stand in line for.

Edit: However, that score is only somewhat balanced out by the overly negative reviews from people who drove, stood in line, and were pissed off when they didn't discover God in a glass like they were expecting.

 

The simple answer is no. The big craft brewers' beers are missing that elusive "hype" flavor that puts a beer in the top tier.

 

hype is delicious

 

If you take out the hype piece, I agree that Stone and SN are basically already doing this with Ruination 2.0, Enjoy by, Torpedo, and Celebration. If you can get fresh Torpedo, especially in a can, it's damn good. That being said, the hype piece will probably never be removed.

I really think the best bet at doing this might be if Russian River ramped up PtE production and distributed in refrigerated trucks to large east coast cities. One can only dream....

 

No, even if you could magically multiply the production of any of them - PtY, Heady, King Julius etc.. they'd stop being a beer that gets purchased from the brewery, is sold out within day(s) and never suffers abuse.

They simply won't be as good buying them off the shelf 12 states away from where they were manufactured, after weeks moving through the distribution channels with who knows what kind of treatment.

 

Exactly what I was coming in here to post. Without Hype you cant have a top tier beer

 

Highest rated on this site? No chance. Hype, high prices and limited distro increases ratings on BA.

 

No.

 

The question is how do we change the beer distribution process so that fresh beer can more quickly get from brewery bottling lines to retail shops more in the way that milk or Krispy Kreme donuts are regionally/nationally stocked in grocery and convenience stores across the US without much trouble at all, and that is done on a daily or several times a week basis. Not that IPA's need to be daily distributed (some hop heads would argue that) but if someone could fix the beer distribution process, that would do wonders for IPA consumers.

 

Following up on my snarky first comments....As others have noted, the BA crowd will NEVER rate a widely available IPA as the best in the country. Never. Doesn't matter how good it is. It won't ever happen. Some of that is bias (hype/groupthink, availability, etc.), some of that is the reality of logistics (i.e., even with crazy efficient distro, there will still be people trying these beers with 1+ and 2+ months on them, which will invariably lead to people saying they "fell off", etc.).

My hope, and it sounds like brewers big and small alike have been saying this, is that people realize the gap between the highest rated IPAs and your best local breweries' stuff, if it even exists, isn't near what the ratings would lead you to believe. Drink your best locals, or freshest favorite shelf stuff, and save your shipping dollars for stuff that's a helluva lot harder to reproduce quality versions of (i.e., lambic/geuze...and even then, I'd add that you might consider saving your whale bait and just hoarding endless amounts of 3F OG )

 

Just when I was getting frustrated that one of our most reputable bottle shops in the area was still selling for full price the Enjoy By 2/14/16's in mid March, this past week they had the nerve to pull out some Enjoy by Dec 2015 bombers back out on the shelf for $10.99 listing price. Something needs fixed in our distribution/selling methods. Will distributors and store shops be willing to stop buying/stocking in bulk and move towards a smaller quantity but more frequent distribution and selling system of IPAs (or beer in general) to ensure freshness and not a lot of left over product after freshness?

 

Never.
Even if magically it was the greatest IPA, the problem is that many non-hopheads would rate it well. The real magic for high rates is for people who already like the style to seek out these smaller batches and not let the already converted try it. It also helps that a place is in the middle of nowhere or doesn't self distribute since the worst place for poor rating is for a newbie walking into the city brewery and stomping on a beer because he or she doesn't get sour beer or hoppy beer.

 

For beer, ABInBev has already answered the question as to how milk and Krispy Kreme do it. Have lots of local/regional producers but put the same brand label on each regardless of where it is produced. Much the same model as used by McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King.

 

It's the bigger breweries like SN, Stone, Lagunitas, who will be driving the changes. Some small, essentially local outfit just doesn't have the clout or resources.

I do a lot of chit-chatting with my beer guys and the common theme still seems to be that the sales reps and distributor salesman suck. My feelings are that the next leap forward will come when the last of the older group is replaced with those who 'get it '.

Still, I have a hell of a lot more choices now than even 5 years ago, so I can wait .